Home network component controlling data and function of another home network component

ABSTRACT

Aggregated service and feature sharing is provided in a home network, in which users can freely enjoy not only the shared content, but also the unique features provided by each device anywhere in the network. The service sharing feature allows one device to control and use shared hardware or software functionalities provided by other devices in the network.

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates generally to using one component in ahome network to enable a user to exploit and control the functions, inaddition to the data, in another component of the home network.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the proliferation of home networking technologies (e.g., GigabitEthernet, wireless LAN and Bluetooth), most consumer electronics devicesnow have networking (and wireless) capabilities. Some of the most commondevices include PCs, laptops, TVs, smart phones, wireless headset, etc.The ultimate goal of a connected home network is for users to easilyaccess any feature and any content from other devices anywhere, eitherat home or anywhere with Internet access.

As understood herein, it is desirable not just to access content fromone device on another device. A user may also desire to accessfeatures/services from, say, a TV that are provided by another componentin the home network but not by the TV.

As also understood herein, technologies and applications have beenintroduced to facilitate content/multi-media aggregation and discoveryin home networks, such as DLNA, windows/samba file sharing, AppleBonjour, etc., but there is still lack of a technology to allow users toeasily access and operate on all devices anywhere, that is, service andfeature sharing in a home network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a system has at least one user component including aprocessor and a user input device inputting signals to the processor,and at least one service component communicating with the user componentover a home network. The service component includes a processor. Theprocessors cooperate to discover each component in the home network,with each processor publishing to the home network services provided bythe respective component. Also, each processor receives informationindicating services published by components in the network other thanthe processor receiving information. The user component receives userinvocation signals to invoke a service of the service component and theuser component also receives user service signals, which it sends overthe network to the service component to cause the service component toprovide the service in accordance with the user service signals. Theuser component receives back over the home network a service output fromthe service component representing a result of executing the service.The service output is presented on the user component.

In some examples the user component presents user interfaces (UI) topermit a user to select, using the user component, a service of theservice component and then to invoke and control, by inputting commandsto the user component, the service component to execute the service. Insome of these examples the user component presents on a display acomponent screen that lists available discovered components on thenetwork. The user provides input using the component screen to selectthe service component. In the response to selecting the servicecomponent from the user component, the user component may present a listof services provided by service component from which a user can selectto cause the service component to execute the service and return resultstherefrom to the user component over the network.

The service component can be a wireless telephone which provides a callservice. Input at the user component is received from an input deviceassociated with the user component to invoke the call service. Asub-menu can be caused to appear on the user component instructing theuser to manipulate the input device to input a telephone number to theuser component which then sends the number to the telephone through thenetwork to cause the telephone to dial the number, the telephone sendingback audio data associated with the call over the network for audible orvisual presentation thereof on the user component. The networkconnecting each component can be any form of network such as Ethernet,Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth link in this case. Also, the telephone can send backa ring tone which is presented on the user component. A user's voiceinput can be received at the user component and sent to the telephoneand thence to a wide area telephony network with a called party's voicebeing presented on the user component, such that the call service of thetelephone is used through the user component.

In other embodiments the service component is a wireless telephone whichprovides a “retrieve position” service. The user can manipulate an inputdevice associated with the user component to select the retrieveposition service. The user component in response sends a message to thetelephone over the network to report its position as indicated by aposition receiver of the telephone. The position is sent from thetelephone to the user component for display thereof on the usercomponent.

The wireless telephone can also provide a “purchase content” servicewhich can be selected by the user to cause a submenu to be presented onthe user component instructing the user to input to the user componentvia the input device purchase information. The user component sends thepurchase information to the telephone over the home network and inresponse the telephone transmits an order for content over a wide areatelephony network.

The wireless telephone may in addition or alternatively provide a shortmessage text service selectable by the user at the user component tocause a submenu to be presented on the user component instructing theuser to input to the user component via the input device a phone numberand text message using the input device. The information input to theuser component can be sent over the home network to the telephone whichdials the number and sends the message received from the user component.

The service component may include a camera and provide a picture takingservice. The user can manipulate an input device associated with theuser component to select the picture taking service. A submenu can bepresented on the user component instructing the user to input to theuser component via the input device a take picture signal, which is sentto the service component to cause the service component to capture animage. Images from the service component can be sent over the network tothe user component for display thereof on the user component. As analternative, the webcam service can be shared by a component which canstream real-time videos from one component to another.

In another aspect, a method includes presenting on a TV content viewableby a user, and enabling the user to input to the TV service controlsignals to control services provided uniquely by other componentscommunicating with the TV over a home network. The services include oneor more of adjusting settings of a component, accessing GPS locationinformation of a mobile telephone, purchasing and downloadingmusic/movies, sending text messages via a telephone, establishingcontent syncing for all components in a home network from any componentin the network a user may choose, turning on/off a camera, taking apicture on a telephone or computer and sending the picture back to theTV for presentation thereof on the TV, or remotely retrieving voicemailmessages on a telephone.

In another aspect, a method includes providing plural components in ahome network, and providing aggregated service and feature sharing inthe home network. Users can freely enjoy not only the content, but alsothe unique features provided by each component from a user componentanywhere in the network.

The details of the present invention, both as to its structure andoperation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example TV system in accordance withpresent principles;

FIG. 2 is example overall logic that may be executed in accordance withpresent principles;

FIG. 3 is example logic for a use case scenario;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of an example component list user interface(UI); and

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of an example service list UI shown inconjunction with sub-menus corresponding to entries on the service list.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to FIG. 1, home network 10 includes a TV chassis 12holding a TV processor 14 accessing a computer-readable storage medium16 such as disk-based or solid state storage that can be non-volatilememory (NVM). The medium 16 may bear a software-implemented networkmanager module executable by the TV processor 14 alone or acting inconcert with the below-described network interface processor toundertake logic herein. Furthermore, the medium 16 may bear softwareexecutable by the TV processor 14 to enable reception and display ofInternet content on the TV.

The chassis 12 may also hold a TV tuner 18 communicating TV signals tothe TV processor 14. There need be only a single analog/digital TV tuner18 provided in the TV system 10, it being understood that the singleanalog/digital TV tuner 18 may be physically implemented by one and onlyone combined digital/analog tuner or by a single digital tuner or by oneand only one digital tuner in combination with one and only one analogtuner. In other embodiments only a single analog tuner and no digitaltuners may be provided. The tuner 18 may be provided in the chassis 12or in a set-top box, and the tuner 18 may receive TV signals from asatellite, cable head end, terrestrial broadcast antenna, etc.

A network interface device 20 such as but not limited to an Internetenabled wireless modem may be provided to send Internet signals to theTV processor 14. The device 20 typically includes a processor 20 a and alower level wireless driver 21 that is programmed to gather link qualityinformation including one or more of wireless signal strength, datarate, packet loss, and streaming delay. The interface device 20 may besupported by the TV chassis 12 or it may be external to the chassis butcommunicating with the TV processor 14. Without limitation the networkinterface 20 may be an IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n transceiver, a 60 GHz wirelesstransceiver, or other transceiver that can stream high qualitymultimedia content.

As shown, the home network 10 also includes a portable hand-holdable TVremote control (RC) 22. The RC 22, among other things, can have cursorcontrol keys 24 for sending wireless signals to a receiver 26 on thechassis 12. The signals detected by the receiver 26 are sent to the TVprocessor 14.

In some embodiments the home network 10 may receive video from a gameconsole 28 such as but not limited to a console in the Sony Playstation®family and/or from a digital disk player 30 such as a Blu Ray® diskplayer. The console 28 typically includes a game processor 32 accessinga game storage medium 34 storing audio and/or video data and likewisethe disk player 30 typically includes a disk processor 36 accessing adisk storage medium 38 storing audio and/or video data. The game consolecan have a game remote control 28 a and the disk player can beassociated with a wireless disk player remote control 30 a.

Content from the TV tuner 18 or Internet content downloaded from thenetwork interface 20 and, when provided, content from the game console28/disk player 30 may be presented under control of the TV processor 14on a TV display 40 such as but not limited to a plasma display or flatpanel matrix-type display, either standard definition (SD) and/or highdefinition (HD).

In one example embodiment the components shown in FIG. 1 communicatemultimedia data to each other over high definition multimedia interface(HDMI) links 42, and the components also communicate control data overconsumer electronics control (CEC) links 44 that typically accompanyHDMI links. In the example non-limiting architecture shown in FIG. 1 theTV 12 is the central node of the network but it is to be understood thatall components may be linked together directly or only some componentsmay be linked together directly, with communication to other componentspotentially passing through intervening components. The links may bewired or wireless.

FIG. 1 shows that the TV can wirelessly receive multimedia data such asaudio, video, or still picture data from a network 42 that includes oneor more content sources 44 that typically are shared within the homenetwork. The network 42 may be the Internet and the sources 44 may beestablished by authorized user devices that stream content over wirelesslinks 46 to the TV for reception thereof by the wireless interface 20.

Additionally, the home network 10 may include a user computer 46 such asa personal computer (PC) or laptop with computer processor 48 andassociated tangible computer readable storage medium 50. The usercomputer 46 also includes one or more input devices 52 such askeyboards, mice, etc. and one or more output devices 54 such asmonitors, printers, etc.

The home network 10 may further include a set-top box 56 containing apersonal video recording (PVR) device such as a hard disk drive. The STB56 includes a STB processor 58 and one or more computer readable storagemedia 60.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 1 the network 10 also includes awireless telephone 62 including a phone processor 64 accessing acomputer readable storage medium 66 to control a wireless telephonytransceiver 68 such as but not limited to a global systems for mobilecommunications (GSM) transceiver or code division multiple access (CDMA)transceiver or variants thereof. The phone 62 communicates wirelesslywith a wide area telephony network 70 using the transceiver 68. Thephone 62 may also include additional sub-components such as but notlimited to a position receiver 72, e.g., a global position satellite(GPS) receiver, and a typically digital camera 74 that may generate bothmoving and still images.

The components 46, 56, 62, like, e.g., the game controller 28, may behoused separately from the TV, i.e., are standalone components.

Turning now to FIG. 2, example overall logic can be seen to enable acomponent in FIG. 1 such as the TV to not only access data in anotherhome network component but to also control the other component toexploit features/services of the other component to achieve the goal of“access anything anywhere”. By way of non-limiting example, the tablebelow shows illustrative features/services provided by variouscomponents in FIG. 1 that can be accessed and exploited from othercomponents in the home network 10.

Smart Phone PC/Laptop TV/Set-top-box PlayStation GPS location Incomingemail TV/IPTV Remote information reminder program game/movie Remotecontent Remote storage recording purchasing & purchasing/ Contentsyncing Favorite channel downloading downloading Camera operationsettings Online gaming Send/receive Printer sharing Channel tuningscheduler SMS messages timer/reminder Game console Content syncingemulator Voicemail retrieving Camera operation

Commencing at block 76 in FIG. 2, components in the network 10 discovereach other using device discovery principles. Device discovery may belimited to discovering components physically inside the home hosting thehome network 10, or may be expanded to discover devices (e.g., thesource 44) roaming physically outside the home but communicating withthe network 10 over the Internet.

Proceeding to block 78, a service publishing protocol is used by eachcomponent participating in the discovery process to publishself-services, with a service discovery protocol being used by eachcomponent participating in the discovery process to discover servicespublished by other devices. These protocols may be any suitable systemin which a device, ordinarily pursuant to device discovery, eitherinforms a central node, e.g., the TV, of its services and retrieves fromthe central node a list of other home network components and associatedservices, or in which each device actively announces a list of itsservices directly to the network and requests from each component a listof that component's services in a one-to-one basis. A list of theparameters associated with a particular service can also be exchangedduring this stage.

Moving to block 80, a remote access protocol is used to put orders touse one or more services of another home network component whoseservices have been discovered and to receive back service results fromthat component. The remote access protocol may simply be a system toenable user commands received at one component to be sent to anothercomponent, with the APIs discussed below then being executed to complywith the commands. The remote access protocol may also be used to buildcommunication pipe if the result is a stream.

Block 82 indicates that a target component, i.e., a component of thehome network 10 receiving a service request from another component inthe network, executes one or more application-specific interfaces (APIs)that typically are specific to and provided by each device to supportsharing of available services/features to satisfy the service request.The APIs may include user interfaces (UI), examples of which areprovided below, to permit a user to select, on a first component, aservice of a second component and then to invoke and control, byinputting commands to the first component, the second component toexecute the service. Because of the limitation of some hardwareresources (e.g., camera/GPS driver) or some service securityconsiderations (e.g., purchasing account management), the availablelocal APIs may differ for different target devices. The specificimplementation of each API may be derived from principles disclosedherein and typically depend on the specific platform used. Thedefinition of those common APIs may be distributed to various devicevendors for specific implementation.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a component screen may be entered from a setupmode on the TV or other user node “A” that the user may define, e.g.,the PC 46, which is a UI that lists available discovered components onthe network 10. Assume a user selects, using an input device associatedwith the node “A” (the RC 22 for example), component “B” from the listat block 86. The component “B”, once selected, thus establishes whatmight be thought of as a service node.

At block 88 a list of services provided by component “B” (service node)is presented on the user node “A”, e.g., the TV. Should a user select aservice of “B” using the input device of the node “A”, the userselection is sent at block 90 from component “A” to component “B”, withsubsequent user control signals associated with the service also beingreceived at “A” and sent to “B”. The service is executed at block 92 bythe service node “B” under control of service input from the user node“A”, with results of the service being returned to the user node “A” forpresentation thereof on a display of the user node.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example component list UI 94 that may be presentedon, e.g., the TV display 40 at block 84 of FIG. 3. As shown, the UI 94lists the components shown in FIG. 1. As indicated by the box around“phone”, for example purposes the user has selected the “phone” 62 inFIG. 1 at block 86 in FIG. 3.

As mentioned above, selection of a component causes a service UI to bepresented at block 88 in FIG. 3 for the selected service node, and FIG.5 shows an example service UI 96 that may be presented on the display ofthe user node (in this example, the TV display 40) listing the servicesof the selected service node. FIG. 5 shows an example of a phone serviceUI since “phone” was hypothesized as being selected in FIG. 4. As shown,the example services provided by the phone 62 include “make a call”.Assuming the TV is the user node, and should the user manipulate the RC22 associated with the TV to select this entry, a sub-menu 98 appearsinstructing the user to manipulate the RC 22 of the TV to input atelephone number to the TV, which then, as explained above, sends thenumber to the phone 62 through the network 10 to cause the API at thephone 62 to dial the number.

In turn, the phone 62 sends back audio data associated with the callover the network 10, for audible or visual presentation thereof on theTV. For example, the phone 62 can send back a ring tone which ispresented on the speakers of the TV and/or which is presented as amessage “ringing” on the TV display 40. The user may speak into amicrophone associated with the TV to participate in the call, with thevoice signal received at the TV being sent to the phone 62 and thence tothe wide area telephony network and with called party's voice beingpresented on the TV speakers. In this way, the call service of the phone22 is used through the TV.

Additionally, the example services provided by the phone 62 can include“retrieve position” service during a call to obtain the location of aremote phone. Assuming the TV is the user node, and should the usermanipulate the RC 22 associated with the TV to select this entry, the TVsends a message to the phone over the network 10 to request the locationinformation of a remote phone connecting by the telephone network. Theremote phone can report its position as indicated by the positionreceiver 72. The position is shown on a sub-menu 100 on the TV display40.

Another example service provided by the phone 62 that can exploited fromthe user node (e.g., from the TV) might be “purchase content”. If theuser selects this entry using the TV RC 22 a submenu 102 can appearinstructing the user to input to the TV via the RC 22 purchaseinformation, such as, e.g., content title, credit card number, etc. TheTV sends this information to the phone 62 over the home network 10 andin response the phone 62 invokes a purchase API resident on the phone tocause the phone 62 to transmit an order for content over the wide areatelephony network to a user-input telephone number, a service providertelephone number programmed into the phone, or other appropriatepurchasing source.

If the phone 62 can be used to send text and the user selects thisoption using the RC 22, a submenu 104 can be presented on the TV display40 instructing the user to input a phone number and text message usingthe RC 22. The information input to the TV is sent over the home network10 to the phone 62, which dials the number and sends the messagereceived from the TV.

If the phone 62 has the capability to take a picture the user may selectthis option from the UI 96 and be presented with a submenu 106instructing the user to, e.g., depress an “enter” key on the RC to causethe phone 62 to operate its camera 74 to take a photograph or video. Tothis end, when the “picture” entry is selected, the TV can send arequest to the phone 62 over the network 10 to send back to the TV thecurrent image from the camera 74, for presentation thereof on thedisplay 40. The user can view the image and at the desired moment, inputa shutter command as described to the TV, which is sent to the phone tocapture the image.

The user may select a voicemail option from the UI 96, causing a submenu108 to be presented on the display 40 instructing the user to manipulatethe RC 22 to retrieve messages. In response to a retrieve signal inputusing the RC 22 to the TV, the TV sends a “check voicemail” command tothe phone 62 over the network 10. The phone 62 retrieves its messagesand sends them back to the TV over the network 10 for audible and/orvisual presentation thereof on the TV.

Accordingly, it may now be appreciated that, as examples, a user viewingthe TV can not only browse content such as photos, music, and moviesstored on other components in the network 10, but also to controlservices and features provided uniquely by the other components, such asadjusting settings of a device controlled from another one, accessingGPS location information of a phone (which is connected remotely outsidea home), purchasing and downloading music/movies directly to a phone orPC from a TV, sending a text message (SMS) to friends via a phone butcontrolled from a TV or PC, starting content syncing for all devices athome from any device a user may choose, turning on/off the webcam andtaking a picture on a phone or PC and sending back to a TV, remotelyretrieving voicemail or multimedia messages on a phone, etc. The aboveapplications of controlling a service provided by one component in ahome network from another component in a home network are illustrativeonly and non-limiting. Thus, aggregated service and feature sharing isprovided in a home network, in which users can freely enjoy not only thecontent, but also the unique features provided by each device anywhere.

While the particular HOME NETWORK COMPONENT CONTROLLING DATA ANDFUNCTION OF ANOTHER HOME NETWORK COMPONENT is herein shown and describedin detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which isencompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. System comprising: at least one user componentincluding a processor and a user input device configured for inputtingsignals to the processor; at least one service component configured forcommunicating with the user component over a home network, the servicecomponent including a processor, wherein the processors are configuredto cooperate to: discover each component in the home network; eachprocessor configured for publishing to the home network servicesprovided by the respective component, each processor configured forreceiving information indicating services published by components in thenetwork other than the processor receiving information; the usercomponent configured for receiving user invocation signals to invoke aservice of the service component; the user component configured forreceiving user service signals and sending the user service signals overthe network to the service component to cause the service component toprovide the service in accordance with the user service signals; and theuser component configured for receiving back over the home network aservice output from the service component representing a result ofexecuting the service, the service output being configured for beingpresented on the user component, wherein in response to selecting theservice component from the user component, the user component isconfigured to present a list of services provided by the servicecomponent from which a user can select to cause the service component toexecute the service and return results therefrom to the user componentover the network.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user componentis configured to present user interfaces (UI) to permit a user toselect, using the user component, a service of the service component andthen to invoke and control, by inputting commands to the user component,the service component to execute the service.
 3. The system of claim 2,wherein the user component is configured to present on a display acomponent screen that lists available discovered components on thenetwork, the user providing input using the component screen to selectthe service component.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the servicecomponent is a wireless telephone and provides a call service, input atthe user component being received from an input device associated withthe user component to invoke the call service, a sub-menu being causedto appear on the user component instructing the user to manipulate theinput device to input a telephone number to the user component whichthen sends the number to the telephone through the network to cause thetelephone to dial the number, the telephone sending back audio dataassociated with the call over the network for audible or visualpresentation thereof on the user component.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the telephone sends back a ring tone which is presented on theuser component, a user's voice input being received at the usercomponent and sent to the telephone and thence to a wide area telephonynetwork with a called party's voice being presented on the usercomponent, such that the call service of the telephone is used throughthe user component.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the servicecomponent is a wireless telephone and provides a “retrieve position”service, the user manipulating an input device associated with the usercomponent to select the retrieve position service, the user component inresponse sending a message to the telephone over the network to reportits position as indicated by a position receiver of the telephone, theposition being sent from the telephone to the user component for displaythereof on the user component.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein theservice component is a wireless telephone and provides a “purchasecontent” service, the user manipulating an input device associated withthe user component to select the purchase content service, a submenubeing presented on the user component instructing the user to input tothe user component via the input device purchase information, the usercomponent sending the purchase information to the telephone over thehome network and in response the telephone transmitting an order forcontent over a wide area telephony network.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the service component is a wireless telephone and provides ashort message text service, the user manipulating an input deviceassociated with the user component to select the text service, a submenubeing presented on the user component instructing the user to input tothe user component via the input device a phone number and text messageusing the input device, the information input to the user componentbeing sent over the home network to the telephone which dials the numberand sends the message received from the user component.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the service component includes a camera and provides apicture taking service, the user manipulating an input device associatedwith the user component to select the picture taking service, a submenubeing presented on the user component instructing the user to input tothe user component via the input device a take picture signal, the takepicture signal being sent to the service component to cause the servicecomponent to capture an image or a video, images from the servicecomponent being sent over the network to the user component for displaythereof on the user component.
 10. System comprising: at least one usercomponent including a processor and a user input device configured forinputting signals to the processor; at least one service componentconfigured for communicating with the user component over a homenetwork, the service component including a processor, wherein theprocessors are configured to cooperate to: discover components in thehome network; at least one processor being configured for publishing tothe home network services provided by the respective component, at leastone processor being configured for receiving information indicatingservices published by components in the network other than the processorreceiving information; the user component configured for receiving userinvocation signals to invoke a service of the service component; theuser component configured for receiving user service signals and sendingthe user service signals over the network to the service component tocause the service component to provide the service in accordance withthe user service signals; and the user component configured forreceiving back over the home network a service output from the servicecomponent representing a result of executing the service, the serviceoutput being configured for being presented on the user component,wherein the service component is a game console and the user componentis configured to control the game console to download a computer gamefor play on the game console under control of the user component,wherein in response to selecting the service component from the usercomponent, the user component is configured to present a list ofservices provided by the service component from which a user can selectto cause the service component to execute the service and return resultstherefrom to the user component over the network.
 11. System comprising:at least one user component including a processor and a user inputdevice inputting signals to the processor; at least one servicecomponent communicating with the user component over a home network, theservice component including a processor, wherein the processorscooperate to: discover components in the home network; at least oneprocessor publishing to the home network services provided by therespective component, at least one processor receiving informationindicating services published by components in the network other thanthe processor receiving information; the user component receiving userinvocation signals to invoke a service of the service component; theuser component receiving user service signals and sending the userservice signals over the network to the service component to cause theservice component to provide the service in accordance with the userservice signals; and the user component receiving back over the homenetwork a service output from the service component representing aresult of executing the service, the service output being presented onthe user component, wherein the service component is a game console andthe user component controls the game console to schedule play of anonline computer game, wherein in response to selecting the servicecomponent from the user component, the user component is configured topresent a list of services provided by the service component from whicha user can select to cause the service component to execute the serviceand return results therefrom to the user component over the network.